You are correct. You don't want to duplicate functionality. Whereas these addons and startupmonitors each perform a different task, usually they can quite happily coexist.

It's when you have multiple programs running that each want be the only program performing a particular task that they will conflict with one another and you will have problems.

(And honestly, I'm surprised at the backup article. 30% sounds like an optimistic/inflated figure).

Thanks for the inputs watcher13 and Bubby, they are very informative and Bubby, I hope you didn't mind me quoting from your posting in the daily giveaway comments.

I have now ditched two of the programs I was running, leaving me with Online Armor and Avast! only, and don't feel any less safe for having done so.

Of course I also have various add-ons/toolbars running within my preferred browser Firefox, and something else that has proved very useful at providing protection of a different sort is StartUpMonitor which sits very quietly in the background until something new tries to add itself to system startup.

Just to be as safe as possible I'm also in the minority (only 30% according to an article today) that does backups - for me that's all files + registry every day, disk image every 2 weeks.

Thanks for the elucidation, Bubby. I think we're all closer here to agreement than not.

Firstly the original comment was mine - it's intent was as follows.

If you aren't familiar with 'On Demand' versus 'Real-Time' virus protection, then to be safe - only run one AntiVirus.

Just because running one is better than running none - it doesn't follow that running two is necessarily better than running one.

Several others also subsequently commented - running two firewalls is generally asking for problems, incompatibilities, errors etc. You want one firewall to be in charge.

Windows firewall really is a (serious) joke. It's better than nothing at all - but not by much (some reviews I have read still give it 0 out of 10 - because it doesn't quite have enough good points to reach a score of 1. For some users the false sense of security that the windows firewall provides is the biggest security risk of all). Others (like Online Armour) know that it will probably be present and active - and can 'work around it' but if you were to throw two other firewalls onto the machine - you may find that you cannot connect to your network at all - they may possibly block each other out as each tries to route all the network traffic through their program.

When it comes to antivirus, HIPS, anti-spyware, change monitoring etc they all do a little piece of the pie, and most approach the problem in a slightly different way. Real Time Antivirus tries to scan each file according to a list of rules before another program can access it. Now if you had two programs trying to scan a file before another program (including the other antivirus) could access it - or if they were polite to both permit scanning - you would at the very least potentially have a significant performance problem on your pc.

For Advanced users who feel they should run 2,3 or 7 different antivirus programs - they select one of those programs to handle the real time scanning (as each file is accessed) and the remaining programs have all real time protection turned off - and are setup to scan only "on demand" (ie. a manual virus scan - started by the user from the antivirus scan menu).

So yes there are ways to run multiple antivirus products and multiple firewalls on a single pc - and in some cases, there is a valid reason for doing so. But for the most part the general "rule of thumb" is install only one firewall and one antivirus product on a PC.

Installing 3 will not make you 3 times as secure - as it may mean that you have 3 times as much to update, configure, test and 3 times the chance for errors to occur. Some people list as an example of how secure their pc is by listing 35 different virus scanners, antispywares, and ultra-doohickies they have installed. It only takes a bug or vulnerability in ONE of those products to open the door wide open and expose their data to some script-kiddy lowlife. Don't listen to them. If you have just ONE up to date and correctly configured anti-spyware/virus program and a firewall that is up to date and correctly configured - you are already way ahead in the game.

And as someone said sometime after I posted.... the "1 per PC rule" is partially a support thing - because users who don't know what they are doing - or why they are doing it - when they want 5 of everything installed - will inevitably have problems - and next will be calling on support for assistance (to uninstall/remove all the extras).

Yeah, Spodo and Judy, I'd say that rule is a little inflexible. I think if everything you got is working, I'd leave it alone - although I certainly don't think either of you need anymore protection. Spodo, I think I'd just eliminate the one or two whcih are fighting with the essential and/or most powerful stuff. Also, the suggestion GM makes seems one prudent way to do it without getting too crazy.

I'm running Avira, Windows Defender, Windows Firewall (I should get a stronger firewall) and IE7 comes with Yahoo Toolbar, which, supposedly, gives some surfing protection, though I don't know what. Though Defender's maligned by some, it does alert you to certain settings changes. Today it alerted me that a software I installed wanted to add a run on startup key in the registry and it allowed me to prevent it. I've used site advisors and probably need to go back to that, though IE7 has a crude warning system built in.

So probably one AV, one anti-spyware (though that feature is greatly improved in most current AVs), one Firewall running (although GMs firewall logic makes some sense), and, perhaps, at least one other on demand scanner - I've got some extra ones I double check with occassionally. I've used Kasperky online and I also have Trinity Rescue Kit and SystemRescueCD, which are boot CDs that include multiple scanners and network support so they can download the latest definition files without Windows booted.
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12
http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
Like you Judy, at times I've also run a simple type HIPS that detects scripts and gets your permission before running them. That's what Vista's UAC does, but, since that's actually a byproduct of UACs function, it's only a small protection.

I, too, think the real question is whether you need a bunch running. I've been pretty clean for my computing career and that comes from being careful, rather than having a slew of things running, so my viewpoint is that people sometimes get too crazy about trying to have a lot of protection running. To make my long story short, I think 1+1, or 1+1+1 (or +1 if you have a HIPS) like I run, is not a rule, but probably a good guideline to avoid unnecessary complication. Nobody is hack proof. Really, you're best protection is the fact that your one in billions. The main reason to be extra careful is if your store a lot of personal info. on your machine, which I don't.

Anyway, that's just the way it looks from my little corner of the world, for what it's worth.

Well, I use a combo of Comodo and Windows Firewall together. Because Windows Firewall isn't as proactive, they can be used together. So in case Comodo fails, I still have a basic backup layer of Windows Firewall. (I also use avast! together with all no problem. Also uses the whole package of McAfee SiteAdvisor [not pro].)
(I think I got this tip from one of my computer magazines.)

Good Question,Its something I would like to know as well,I too took advantage of todays excellent offering but am left with the choice of what to stop using.Can any shed some light on this subject.
Antivirus-AVG Free 8.5.339...Working fine with Online Armour
Spyware-Spyware Terminator+all shields and hips...Working Fine with Online Armour
Also using Threatfire and everything Is working together very nicely,no problems,but does seem like overkill,what would I be safe getting rid of or should I just carry on using what I am as I cannot see any conflicts as yet?

One of the postings about todays giveaway includes this comment:

Remember the general rule of thumb.

One AntiVirus and One Firewall.

Do most people stick to this? - in recent times I've been running Windows Defender and Spyware Terminator as well as Avast! and ZoneAlarm (which I have now replaced with Online Armor); it's always felt like overkill, being a bit of a pain with all the pop-up windows that can appear, and in the past I have also had conflicts between other protection software, causing all sorts of bad behaviour.

So what do people recommend for the different types of protection software that one should have running simultaneously? Just anti-virus + firewall or the more programs running the safer it will be?